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Why the search for the Kentucky I-75 shooting suspect is so difficult

Why the search for the Kentucky I-75 shooting suspect is so difficult
September 10, 2024

(CNN) โ€” Thousands of acres of wilderness. Sinkholes. And the possibility of a gunman around every corner.

These are among the difficulties facing the dozens of law enforcement officers employed in the search for Joseph Couch, the man suspected of firing an AR-15 from a cliff ledge on the side of the interstate about nine miles north of London, Kentucky, striking 12 cars and wounding five people on Saturday.

โ€œItโ€™s kind of like a jungle,โ€ said Kentucky State Police spokesperson Scottie Pennington on Monday. The forest is home to cliffs, sinkholes, caves, culverts, and creeks and rivers โ€“ all of which complicate the hunt for Couch.

Drones, helicopters, search dogs, and crews from federal, state and local agencies are all participating in the manhunt in a remote stretch of Kentuckyโ€™s Daniel Boone National Forest. The nearly 72-hour search has focused on the densely wooded area near where responders found Couchโ€™s semi-automatic rifle, ammunition, car and a phone thought to be his.

โ€œOur main focus is to remain in those woods until we find him,โ€ Pennington said at a Tuesday news conference. โ€œAnd some people say, well what if heโ€™s not alive anymore? Well, weโ€™re going to stay in the woods till we find him, and thatโ€™s our job โ€“ if heโ€™s dead or alive, itโ€™s our job to try to find him.โ€

Officers have even been forced to use machetes to cut through the dense brush.

โ€œHe couldnโ€™t have picked an area that is any more remote and difficult for us to try to locate him,โ€ Laurel County Sheriffโ€™s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said Sunday.

โ€œThat exit along I-75 is probably the most remote throughout Kentucky,โ€ he said. โ€œItโ€™s wooded. Itโ€™s heavily wooded. Itโ€™s got hills. Itโ€™s got rocks.โ€

The Daniel Boone National Forest includes 708,000 acres of federally owned land, including โ€œsome of the most rugged terrain west of the Appalachian Mountains,โ€ according to the US Forest Service. The forest features โ€œsteep forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines,โ€ according to the service.

The search for clues also took them to the home where Couch lived, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Tuesday. He declined to say what kind of evidence was collected at the house.

There have been tips that have led authorities to investigate locations outside the forest but โ€œnone of those have led anywhere,โ€ Pennington said, noting more tips โ€œare still under investigation.โ€

Fighting against the clock

Craig Caudill, a wilderness education expert and director of Nature Reliance School, a Kentucky-based program located less than 80 miles from the area where law enforcement is searching for Couch, said that in this part of the state, Couch could also encounter black bears and venomous snakes.

And as they work, search personnel are fighting against the clock: Although some officers camp out overnight, authorities have mostly shut down their search efforts after sunset, citing increased danger facing officers.

โ€œWe really have to suspend it at dark because of the danger element of our guys being in there and maybe walking right up on this individual,โ€ said Acciardo. Officers will stay โ€œin strategic positions to observeโ€ overnight.

โ€œAt nighttime, our helicopters can fly. They are looking for heat sources,โ€ Pennington told reporters. More helicopters have joined the search, he said Tuesday.

Itโ€™s not a matter of if Couch will be found, but when, Caudill told CNN Tuesday.

Caudill, who is contracted by federal and state governments to teach and train law enforcement, said four of the teams he has worked with are actively searching the area.

Law enforcement has said that they think Couch may still be armed and should be considered dangerous.

โ€œAuthorities are not just facing logistical challenges searching in difficult terrain, but they are also searching for someone who has clearly shown a desire to cause indiscriminate loss of life after opening fire onto a freeway,โ€ Josh Campbell, CNN security correspondent and former FBI agent, said.

โ€œThat makes him an extremely dangerous fugitive,โ€ Campbell said. โ€œOfficers are having to work their way through a dense forested area slowly and methodically with their heads on a swivel, knowing a very real threat to their own safety could be lurking behind the next tree.โ€

The search is โ€˜tedious and stressfulโ€™

Another challenge is the slow, methodical pace at which officers have to work to preserve any evidence they find, according to Pennington.

โ€œYou go very slowly, because youโ€™re not just looking for him, youโ€™re looking for evidence,โ€ he said at a Monday news conference.

As far as what authorities are looking for, Caudill said itโ€™s hard to say.

โ€œI train law enforcement to do what they do, and I donโ€™t want to say anything that would help the bad guys,โ€ he said.

โ€œHe canโ€™t float on the earth,โ€ Caudill said. โ€œAnytime he takes a step, heโ€™s going to leave a sign.โ€

The work itself is exhausting, prompting authorities to swap out teams to rest. Search personnel have to carry heavy equipment, according to Acciardo, which makes the work even more โ€œtedious and stressful.โ€

Police have said that while theyโ€™re operating under the assumption that Couch is still in the area, itโ€™s possible he could have left โ€“ or that he could no longer be alive. In a text message sent to a woman ahead of the shooting, he said he would โ€œkill a lot of peopleโ€ and then โ€œkill myself afterwards,โ€ according to a warrant for his arrest.

The warrant charges Couch with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault.

As the search continues, law enforcement officials have said theyโ€™re hoping to โ€œwear downโ€ Couch, who may be alone without access to food or water in the woods.

โ€œHe (Couch) can survive a couple weeks,โ€ Caudill estimates. โ€œNow whether heโ€™s a functioning human within a few days is the issue. Just after three to four days without proper hydration, his bodyโ€™s not going to function properly, heโ€™s not going to have any good decision-making skills.โ€

โ€œThatโ€™s what I call getting into a diminished decision-making position,โ€ he said. โ€œTherefore, heโ€™s going to not make the decisions he needs to take care of himself, which is a good thing for law enforcement in that regard.โ€

And thatโ€™s exactly what law enforcement hopes will happen as they โ€œapply steady pressure and wear Mr. Couch down the longer he is in the woods,โ€ according to Pennington.

โ€œHopefully heโ€™ll eventually just walk out the woods and give yourself up,โ€ he said.

The-CNN-Wire
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